Orange Coconut Creams

I mentioned earlier that I am making homemade candy tins for my family for Christmas this year.  This recipe is one that I tried for those tins, but I swear, they are so good that there might not be any left when it comes time to package them up!  They were also very easy and made a large batch, so do try them if you are in the mood for candy goodness (and who isn't?).  This recipe, once again, comes to us from Taste of Home, the best magazine ever!

For a printer-friendly copy of this recipe, click here:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Orange-Coconut-Creams

Ingredients:
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), cubed
1 package (2 pounds) confectioners' sugar
1 cup flaked coconut (from the baking aisle)
1 1/2 tsp orange extract (from the spice aisle)
2 cups (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
8 oz. German sweet chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp shortening

Start out by putting the confectioners' sugar in a big bowl.

Put the sweetened condensed milk and the butter into a small saucepan and heat it up on low (stir, stir, stir) until the butter is melted.

Pour it into the confectioners' sugar and beat it with your electric mixer.

It will be stiff when you are done, so be careful not to kill the motor.  Add the coconut and the orange extract and mix well again.  Now it will be REALLY stiff.

Roll it into 1" balls.  I used my cookie scoop, so these were bigger than 1", but it still worked.  Put the balls onto waxed paper-lined sheets and stick them in the fridge for about an hour (or two hours if you are trying to wrestle a 2-year-old into pajamas when the timer goes off).  This will firm them up and make them easier to dip.

Once the centers are ready, put the semisweet chips, the German chocolate, and the shortening into a small saucepan (think narrow and deep, not wide and shallow) and heat it on medium-low, stirring constantly, until the chocolates are both melted.  Don't worry about it seizing up, which chocolate tends to do on the stove -- the little bit of shortening prevents that nicely.  Once the chocolates are melted, turn the burner down as low as it will go and leave it there.  This will keep the chocolate nice and runny while you are dipping the candies.  You can also melt the chocolate in the microwave, but it will not stay hot and will try to set up before you are through, resulting in a gloopy mess.

To dip the chocolates, you can use a fork, but the wide tines will leaves marks on the bottom.  I bought a set of chocolate tools (see the link below) and they are very helpful.  The tines are small so they leave very little marks.  They are also wider than a fork (at least the 3-prong tool is) so you are less likely to lose your candy in the chocolate bath.



Drop your candies into the chocolate, cover them completely, then fish them out with the tools.  I have learned that the easiest way to do this and end up with the right amount of chocolate coating is to slightly tip the tool holding the candy and bang it gently on the side of the pan until the dripping stops.  This leaves a nice coating that isn't so thick that you break a tooth on it and doesn't waste all of your coating.  Place them back on the waxed paper when they are dipped and let stand until they are set (overnight for me).

Store them in an airtight container in a cool place and they will last a long, long time (well, they have a long shelf-life -- they may not hang around that long once you taste them).

These are super, super yummy!  I can't believe that I never tried making candy before.  Why have I been paying so much in stores when these are so good, so easy, and so fun to make?  They will be a Christmas tradition from here on in our home.